Calhoun alums earn preseason honors
Lamb, Curtis named to preseason conference teams
From App. St., Mercer reports NEW ORLEANS
– A league-best 12 Appalachian State Mountaineers, including Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Jalin Moore (Shelby, N.C./Crest), have been named to the 2017 Sun Belt Preseason All-Conference Football Teams, the league announced on Friday.
Moore was joined on the first team offense by senior wide receiver Shaedon Meadors (Duncan, S.C./Byrnes), guard Colby Gossett (Cumming, Ga./North Forsyth) and tackle Beau Nunn (York, S.C./ Work Comp.). Linebacker Eric Boggs (Belton, S.C./ Belton-Honea Path), defensive tackle Tee Sims (Covington, Ga./ Eastside) and cornerback Clifton Duck (Matthews, N.C./Butler) landed on the first team defense.
Quarterback Taylor Lamb (Calhoun, Ga./Calhoun) and tackle Vic Johnson (North Augusta, S.C./ North Augusta) were named to the second team offense, joined by nose tackle Myquon Stout (China Grove, N.C./Carson), linebacker Devan Stringer (Gainesville, Ga./Gainesville), and placekicker Michael Rubino ( Apex, N.C./Middle Creek) on the second team defense and special teams.
Moore, Lamb, and a wealth of experience on both sides of the ball are a big reason the Mountaineers, under fifth-year Head Coach Scott Satterfield (32-18 at App State), were picked as the preseason favorite in the Sun Belt by the league head coaches on Thursday. App is coming off a 10-3 season in which it claimed the program’s first Sun Belt Conference championship and a second consecutive bowl win, a 31-28 win over Toledo the in 2016 Raycom Camellia Bowl.
Lamb begins his senior season with 63 career touchdown passes, needing 18 for the Sun Belt career mark. He is 27-9 as a starter entering his final year, the second most wins among active FBS quarterbacks. Johnson started every game in ‘16 protecting Lamb’s blind side, earning Sun Belt All-Freshman Team honors.
Moore rushed for 1,402 yards and 10 touchdowns en route to being named the 2016 Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year. He burst onto the scene in the fourth game of the season, bulldozing Akron with 257 yards rushing and three touchdowns to earn Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week honors.
He would rush for 100 yards or more in six consecutive games and in eight of App’s next nine games.
Gossett and Nunn paved the way for a rushing offense that piled up 250.9 yards per game, the second-highest total in Sun Belt history, second only to App State in 2015.
Gossett started every game, while Nunn missed two games late in the season, but returned for the Camellia Bowl win. On top of Moore’s success, the duo helped then-senior Marcus Coxsurpass 5,000 yards for his career and join Moore with over 1,000 yards rushing on the season.